Hospital Unlicensed Supply

Challenge

An important oncology product was facing a nation-wide shortage in the UK which was lasting longer than expected, as the QA-release of the UK-licensed stock was being continuously postponed. There are currently no alternative treatment options available for the cancer patients using this product. As such, when hospitals across the country found themselves running out, they needed to find a way of quickly replenishing stock. This issue was so urgent that the Department of Health and Social Care reached out to WEP Clinical directly to request assistance on behalf of the whole NHS.

Solution

Because we have a strong presence across Europe, our UK Country Manager’s first course of action was to check in with our other EU country managers to see if any of them had any experience supplying this product. Several of the managers had sent this drug to hospitals in their respective countries in the past. This meant we already had a supply chain in place and even had some stock already available at our UK warehousing facility. Because no other wholesaler across the UK could find a way of supplying this product, the Department of Health and Social Care released a broadcast alert to all NHS hospitals telling them to go directly to WEP Clinical to fulfil their needs. As such, WEP Clinical was able to alleviate this shortage and provide emergency treatment for cancer patients.